Abstract:

The social isolation imposed by the covid-19 pandemic meant that the speech therapy model provided in Brazil, as well as in most of the world, was quickly transferred to the online format. This change was extremely challenging and exposed a series of difficulties such as infrastructure, professional preparation, ethical and economic aspects, technological resources, among others. This paper presents some results of a large study on speech-language telepractice during the Covid-19 pandemic. The study included the participation of 1551 speech therapists who answered an online questionnaire with 28 questions about the use of digital resources by Brazilian phonoaudiologists before and during the period of the COVID 19 pandemic. The results presented refer to the main difficulties pointed out by the participants for the use of digital resources that can be attributed to the use of technology, infrastructure and professional training focused on technology. The findings of the study demonstrate that 90% of phonoaudiologists that participated in the study have used telehealth technologies since before the COVID-19 pandemic. A change in the profile of technologies used for patient care was observed. During the pandemic, there was an increase in the use of videoconferences to contact patients when compared to the pre-pandemic period, even though contact via mobile phone and instant messaging continue to be the most used communication technologies, both before and during the pandemic.The discussion highlights the importance of reviewing the educational background of these professionals, considering the inclusion of aspects related to telepractice. Since the telepractice structure, although it has been used as an emergency, it needs to be considered as a viable strategy to be routine and of equivalent quality to face-to-face, especially when considering a country with continental dimensions such as Brazil.

Keywords:

Coronavirus, Covid-19, Access to Health Services, Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, Audiology.